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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Re-FRESHing…Re-FINISHing…REVEALing (Tootsie’s step by step process)

I have already shared the finished project…bedroom make over….top to bottom. The only thing in that room that I did not change was the carpet!

I promised you that I would share the process of how I did my bedroom furniture in an antiqued style…white washed finish…

(to view the reveal post and more photos of the finished room click here)

Shall we get started? Okay…here we go!

Step one…remove or turn the mattresses on the bed so as not to get paint or anything on them. In my case a king size mattress is too big to lug around, so I just turned it 1/4 of a turn so as to make room for me to work.

(the head of the bed was facing the side)

Step two…lightly sand down the surface you will be re-finishing, to remove the shiny surface, protective finish. (I got excited and forgot to take photos of this step and step two)

Step three…wash entire surface with TSP or other agent that will remove all previous applications of of furniture polish, dust…etc.

Ready to get painting????

We are striving to make an opaque finished product. Notice that I did not sand the entire finish off of the headboard? That is because I WANT the dark finish to show through.

This is the look we are going for, and here is how to get it:

I used Tremclad oil based paint in a glossy almond color.

Step four…put on your rubber gloves and grab your clean rag/facecloth. Position it so that you can manipulate the rag without it flopping around.

Step five…dip your rag into the paint and load the end with paint. Do not overload the rag, but make sure you have at least enough to make a mark on the surface of the furniture.

Do not panic if you should have too much paint…as we are going to be moving this paint around to get the finish we want…the thickness…etc.

Step seven…begin to wash in a straight line, (going with the grain of the wood) the paint up and down (or side to side –depending on what surface you are working on) to the desired thickness…you do not want to work with too much paint, as you want to make sure you have time to manipulate it before it dries. Oil based paint takes a bit longer to dry, so we have a little time…(Water based paint dries faster, but you also would have the option of using a bit of water, or dampening your rag, or using glaze in your paint itself…)

What do we do to protect the surfaces that are facing in another direction, or that we do not want to have paint on?

We use one of these handy dandy little gadgets! It is a baseboard edge protector! You can get them at the hardware store in the paint department. These cost but pennies…but to a painter/decorator, they are priceless!

Simply push the edge protector against the surface that you do NOT want to get paint on, and work carefully along!

Keep rubbing and reloading your rag until your arm feels like it is made of rubber…

…or until you are finished the entire piece! It is just that simple!

Now…do you see those very fancy intricately carved parts of the headboard and columns? We still need to apply our finish to them.

I used two cheap as cheap old paint brushes in small and teensy size.

I dipped my brush in the paint to load it, and dabbed it onto the carvings and made sure all the little nooks and crannies were filled…as you work, your brush will become less loaded and the paint will be moved thinly all over the surface. You will want to leave a little more here and there to show off all the details of the carving…

cover the entire piece…

dabbing and dabbing and rubbing with your brush…

…when your brush is in need of more paint, take a quick minute to grab our painting rag and wipe the surface gently….to reveal the details of the piece. Just work to your taste…no pressure…and if you take too much…just reload and add a little paint…then rub gently to get to what you want!

Each time you reload your brush…you will repeat these steps until the entire carving has been distressed.

If you need to use the smaller brush to get into the smaller areas, go for it! Just be sure to load the brush with a little paint and store it in an airtight plastic bag when you are not using it.

(TIP: putting brushes filled with oil base paint into the refrigerator overnight will keep them fresh)

Just be patient…keep brushing…

-and wiping…until it is done!

Once your entire project piece is done..you can go back in with the brush just barely loaded…and touch up any places you may have missed, or that you think may need a little more added paint.

Looks great!

I had to do the same technique on the tops of the columns…they are very intricate!

Now…lets address the part that stressed me out!

I was worried about getting paint on the leather surface of the headboard…so I had to use the edging tool to protect it.

I worked along slowly to make sure I go the look that I wanted. I did not use the rag…just sort of dry brushed it. (barely loaded my brush to make it look weathered and worn.)

Again I rubbed and wiped and dabbed until I thought I would lose an arm…

It was SO worth the effort!!! The entire thing looks great …I did the headboard…

Footboard, and columns the first evening…It took me about 3 hours to do the bed.

I love the way it turned out.

So…the next day…I set my sights on the rest of the bedroom furniture.

End table got a wash…

(remove hardware from the drawers and the drawers from the dresser…before you begin…I put these on before I took the photos to show you…)

The finished product!

(TIP: remove the mirror and frame from the dresser itself and then remove the mirror itself from the mirror frame to allow you to paint a little bit of the back side of the frame. If you do not do this…you will still see the original finish in the mirror…as it will reflect what it is up against. It should only take a couple of screws to remove…and it will be much lighter to carry around.)

These extra little steps will make life a lot easier for you…

Allow the paint to dry and cure for a while…a couple days..before you place anything heavy on it. It can feel dry and still be soft enough to damage…or get things stuck onto it. I waited 3-4 days….and yes…it almost killed me to do so.

(Note: I could have finished the furniture off with a clear coat to protect the surface finish…but I chose not to. The oil base paint is durable, washable and has a nice sheen to it. I don’t think I will need it in the bedroom…it doesn’t get washed like a kitchen table does…it gets dusted weekly. That step is yours for the deciding.)

OKAY!!! NEXT THING!

I decided to paint my walls. Three out of the 4 were painted my favorite paint color…heart of bronze. It is a deep chocolate brown…the fourth got three coats of a deep burgundy red.

And again I wait for paint to dry!!! ugh (have you noticed that waiting is NOT one of my strongest talents?)

I am a girl who gets an inspiration and has to try it. I am also a girl who gets an idea…pictures it in her head and NOTHING is good enough to call finished until she achieves EXACTLY what she wanted in the first place.

This photo is the inspiration for the window treatments that I hung. I wanted the criss cross look…the soft look of the sheers…but didn’t know if I needed the swag across the top. So…

I hung the curtain rods…double rods…loaded them with four sheers per window…(two per rod) and swaged them back. I was not sure where to put the tie back hooks…so I experimented with them. I used the window blinds to hold them back until I decided.

I hummed and hawed…groaned and moaned…emailed photos to Grammie…and telephoned…sent text message photos for opinions…and finally I settled on a position for my hooks.

The hooks I used are just curtain tie back hooks from a department store…very cheap ones…I did not hang them straight like the directions said to. Instead, I hung them on a bit of an angle in a mostly vertical position. The wall space between windows is small and didn’t accommodate them being sideways…and besides…lets face it…I am a girl who likes to put a little spin on everything to make it original. *)

All done! -for now. I did not remove the finials that I used to hang the decorative curtains that were part of the previous decor. (I can always use those finials to add some interest if I find just the right thing.) All that was left was the best part!!!! The accessorizing!

I used two of the old storm windows that were in my original greenhouse…(nope…didn’t clean them up too much…left the panes dirty…haha) used an antique silver cake tray, loaded with a tea service set and set the whole thing on a large old silver tray. The lamp, dress form and trinket box were added after.

Notice the tarnish still on the silver? ha-ha…This girl happens to like her silver a little on the darker side…clean silver isn’t as fun or interesting!

The paintings on the wall in this photo used to be all in cream with a little tinge of green. I painted the outside edges black a while back…and they just work in here…so they got to stay…

…brought all the angels up from the cabinet downstairs…and arranged them on the dressers, and in the cabinet that I re-did a couple of months ago. (I Will share that little adventure in another post very soon)

The bedding I chose to use is two quilts that I picked up. I painstakingly searched everywhere for something that would match the vision in my head…and did not find anything – ANYTHING! Just when I was beginning to feel like throwing in the towel…I found these!

One is sort of a taupe/gray with deep red toile (the same color as my accent wall)

The spoiled cats are NOT a part of the quilt sets…they are sold separately…lol (They are such a PAIN to decorate and paint with!!! Can you say SNOOPY??? ha-ha)

The other is a soft cream with the same color of taupe/gray in the centers of the flowers! (I so wish my photography skills were better!!!)

If the darker one had come with king size pillow shams, I may not have kept looking…but I am glad I did.

I got both sets on sale! Yay for me!

I think they make the room just right –at least for now…we ALL know how I like to change things up here and there!

That is my bedroom re-do broken down into a how to do it for those inquiring minds that just NEED to know!

Grammie…did you get this? Darla?

Any questions? I’d be happy to answer if I can!

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the finished product that I got last post. You guys are definitely good for my ego!

Until next time…when we meet again for the Friday Flower Flaunt…happy decorating!

*)*)*) you know who you are…I just love to drive that Karma bus…if you know what I mean!